Shiftable bed rail table



Oct. 26, 1948. k R. 1.. SMITH SHIFTABLE BED RAIL TABLE Filed Juneso, 1945 M WM TO R g Patented Oct. 26, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE? 2,452,160 I i g SHIFTAQBLE BED nAiL TABLE RomanL. Smith, Los Angeles, Calif. Application June 30, 1945, Serial No. 602,543

.upon the side rails of a conventional bed frame,

and as easily dismounted.

It is a noticeable object of the invention to provide a temporary table that may be quickly and safely mounted on the bed rails and which involves features of construction which wholly eliminate any manner ofalterations, injury and special work or additions on or to the'bed as an essential in the case of the instant table.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in this table means for its ready adjustment to rails which may be different depths and of various cross-top widths as may frequently be found extensively in general use in homes and a great many different institutions.

Another distinctive object of the invention is to provide a bed table which snugly fits the bed rails against side play and at the same time is quite readily shiftable toward or from the head of a bed for comfortable use near to the hands of the occupant of the bed, or pushed away toward the foot of the bed when the table is not immediately in service. And in this connection it is an object of the invention to provide a table which while light and compact is, at the same time very commodious.

Further, an object of the invention is to provide a bed table whose top plane height may be readily adjusted as needed by different individual users. And relative to this, an object is to provide a table, which when dismounted from a bed may be easily collapsed into a compact position of its parts so that the folded table will take up but a very small floor area if stood on end in a closet or other storage room.

The invention consists in certain advancements in this art as set forth in the ensuing disclosure and having, with the above, additional objects and advantages as hereinafter developed, and whose construction, combinations, and details of means, and the manner of operation will be made manifest in the following description of the herewith illustrative embodiment; it being understood that modifications, variations and adaptations may be resorted to within the scope, spirit and principle of the invention as it is more particularly claimed in the addendum.

4 Claims. (Cl. 311-26) Figure 1 is a perspective of the installed table. Figure 2 is a detail section showing arrangement of a foot roller device'for a wide top bed rail.

Figure 3 is a face View of a leg element with open-end slot for ready adjustment of height of the table, as to a bed.

Figure 4 is a detail showing an underfolded leg in latched position.

The table incorporatesa top 2 which may be of any desired stiff material and of any widthf and length, to suit immediate given cases of installation; as for wide or narrow beds; rails R of a narrow bed being here shown. At each end of the table is a bottom, cross cleat 3 set slightly back from its end of the top. 2. Hinged to the bottoms of these cleats are endtable leg frames 4 and 5, and being duplicates, description of one will suffice for both.

Each frame involves a p'a'ir of short, coplanar, flat leg planks-B--6 rigidlyfixed in parallel position as by cross-braces l, and near the upper ends of these legs are the hinges 8 foldably aflixing the frames to the said cleats; wherefore to permit of these frames being folded fiat, close up to the bottom of the table top 1, and will thus take up small floor space when the collapsed table is stood on end in any convenient room or closet.

One leg of each pair has a series of holes l0 and the other leg has a slot ll opening to the foot of the leg, as in Fig. 3; and in the assembled table the holes in one leg are diagonally opposite to the holes in the other pair of legs, and so are the said slots, whereby to effect stability of the mounted table.

The lower ends of the legs (of each pair) are adapted to readily slide into place between uptanding cheek parts or plates l2l3 laterally spaced by and rigidly affixed to a bottom, frame cross bar M, which is of about the same thickness as the leg planks. Passing through the upper ends of the two pairs of checks, are respective bolts I5, I! piercing the holes or slots in the le planks, as the diagonal arrangement justifies; thereby permitting the easy vertical adjustment of the legs in the cheek spaces to bring the table top to a desired height above the rails R, and over the bed occupant. The diagonal disposition of the bolt holes l0 provides for stability whilst the bolts in the slots it are being tightened.

Means are provided which not only rigidly affix the cheeks to the bar I l but at the same time form a runner device slidably mounting the made up table on the bed rails. This means includes a stiff axle bolt I5 whose outer end pierces a respective pair of cheeks l2-l3 and the interposed bar I4 and whose enlarged body part l8 rotatively receives one or more running rollers [9 which track on the top edges or faces of the given rails R;

There is preferably a pair of these bolts l6 for each pair of cheeks at the ends of the respective bar 14 and on the inner ends of each pair is fixed an inner plate 20 covering the near ends of the interposed rollers I9 and hanging down along the inner sides of; theshedrails B; whilst the adjacent rail-cheek lies near the opposite sideof the near rail R. Since the depth of the rails may vary the cheeks and the interposed portions of the bar- [4 may have a plurality of sets of holes,.,as- 21150.,

enable the respective pair of rollers to set higher or lower on the lower part of the legt frame.

If so desired suitable knuckle-jointlinklbraces 22 may be connected to the leg frames and to the near ends of the table top 2 to in open, bed mounted position.

M er the-tablahas beenn neflyadius d mounted onthe -gi venbedirails thetablecan be hi ted? lo e; the a ls; o: desiredanositionfifor se r onw e Eelt -qr otherrfacings 2;3 .=.may --be.f-fixed tothe leg cheek and the inside plate which straddle the ills; SQ: that, the 5'. surface thereofwill r not be marred, and the rollers alsomay; be 015 a protteetiveand noiseless character, in whole-or= in fea ure,-

When the leg fr mfis are infolded under the top la-s shown; in;F'ig-.; whey; s rethus latched by a sil p flaap sren atc pring; or 0ther-latcl1-.2.5.

whatzisiclaim d is:

I t 1, A;b ed; table1-inluding;a .top, element to be t ansversel mourned-gover a bed, pairs oi; co,- nlanar; pac d :1111 ig d conne teds. arts and which pairs are hingedly connected at; their ndsr o: 11 5 133 5 on said: element to. be

vfoldedinwardly, thereunder when; not; in. table se oldab ler. stabilizln ybracea connect-ins i brace the frames element and the leg parts, means to fasten the leg parts in infolded position to the said element, and a pair of bed rail trucks including upright pairs of spaced socket plates between which the lower ends of respective leg parts are adjustably slidable and each truck including a side bar on the ends of which respective pairs of socket plates are fixed, clamp bolts in the upper ends of pairs of plates and which pass through the interposed legpartslandoperate tot clamp-said plates thereon,- axle-- bolts passing through the truck plates, and bed rail rollers mounted on the inner ends of the axle bolts.

2. The-table of claim 1; and inside, guide plates on the inner ends of the rollers axles.

3. The table. of claim 1; a diagonal pair of the leg parts having vertical rows of holes for the clamp bolts and the other diagonal pair of leg nartsi-havin elongate slots for respective clamp bolts.

4+ The table of claim .1 the. socket platesahavingaupner-and lower. setsloirholes for selectiveinsertion of the axles bolts tochange-elevationof thenlates-as .td therbed railfor'. change of horizontal v{plane of the table element.

ROMAN L.- SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The followingreferencestare: of recordfinthe file of this patent:

UNITED" STATES PATENTS 

